Liv and Rob

A Weekend in Yosemite

######For some reason, the first time I visited Yosemite I absolutely could not get around the pronunciation.

I mean, it really does look like it should be pronounced like Vegemite(Yaw-seh-mite) - does anyone else have this problem?? No?

Just me then.

To avoid confusion (mine) I actually had to start referring to it as “Yozzie” with my Australian friends.

With Americans I just avoided pronouncing it all together.

So, in 2010 I took a bus up the Big Sur from LA to San Francisco and on the way back I was lucky enough to stop at “Yozzie”. My stay was much too brief and I didn’t really get to explore. But the majesty and the spirit of this incredible place stayed with me and I’ve always wanted to go back.

And last weekend I did! With these two lovely people. Rob and my sister May, visiting from Sydney (so nice to have an excuse to be a tourist!)…

###Nevada Fall TrailHeading out from the John Muir Trail-head carpark, we originally wanted to take the short Mist Trail but it was closed for Winter. So we took the longer Nevada Fall Trail instead.

###Detour to Vernal FallAbout a mile in we found the rest of the way closed. So we took .6mi trail down to Vernal Falls.

Ice at the top of Vernal Fall - no swimming unfortunately…

At the end of the trail was this beautiful piece of epicness, not too shabby!

###Mist TrailWe then saw that the Mist Trail was indeed open - hmm, and also fricking steep! Kind of lucked out there.

We took it down instead…

for some more epic views…

and waterfall action (That’s snow at the bottom!)

###About 10km in total!

The Sierra Nevada that runs 400mi from Northern California south down the California/ Nevada state line is home to spiritual, majestic and awe-inspiring natural monuments like Lake Tahoe and Yosemite.

It is essential North California visiting!!

And Sierra Nevada means ‘Snowy Mountains’ in Spanish - so its like Australians were born to love it.

###Some details…

Yosemite National Park is a 3 to 4 hour drive from San Francisco

Entrance into the park is $USD20 per car (there are individual prices if you’re biking in)

We had a great experience in what I assume is someone’s holiday home via Airbnb. I love staying in a rented home - there are perks like tips on local brunch places and the occassional discovery of Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit in the linen closet (both pretty awesome with a few sneaky glasses of red #justsaying)

Our Airbnb (outside of the park itself) - which was soooooo cute. Laura Ingalls’ Little House in the Big Woods anyone?!

Back to the park, The drive out is actually really beautiful in itself. We had this fantastic view of El Capitan…

and the sun on a rock formation called The Three Brothers…

Also, we had to stop for this deer family crossing the road…

as if that’s not the cutest!

###As John Muir said:

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while.Climb a mountain, spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean”

Sounds perfect…

#####Happy traveling!

#####Liv xx

Olivia Jones

Liv and Rob are two possums living in the US. We like music, and soccer, and some other things. Enjoy our blog. <3 us